Fort Ellis teen forms club to celebrate girls

Marika Schenkels started a Because I am a Girl club at South Colchester Academy in Brookfield last May. (FRANK CAMPBELL / Truro Bureau)

BROOKFIELD —Marika Schenkels is no ordinary girl.

She doesn’t even believe in the term.

“Girls should be able to feel that they can do whatever they want and be whoever they want, not be stunted by the expectations that society places on them,” said Schenkels, 14, of Fort Ellis, near Stewiacke.

With that in mind, she founded a Because I Am a Girl club at South Colchester Academy in Brookfield last May.

The club is part of an international campaign spearheaded by aid organization Plan that is intended to address the issue of gender discrimination around the world. Schenkels got the idea from a Plan Canada website that promotes the cause.

“Last year, in March, they introduced the initiative and it just seemed like a perfect fit. And I thought that we could use something like that so I just did it.”

She said the club at the Grade 7-12 school meets every other week with the guidance of a mentor, math teacher Jane Layden. The meetings consist of games, building friendships and discussing a particular issue, often a suggestion from the website.

“We have a country of the week where we learn about different countries and the different problems that they face and the different laws and regulations that are there, about their religions and stuff like that,” Schenkels said.

“Child marriage is a big one. That really hits close to home for us because we realize how lucky we are to be in a society that we are not married off before we are ready and really want to. We also talk about education a lot, as well as clean water for developing countries.”

But the discussions also take the 22 girls in the club back to the state of the country they live in.

“A lot of the time we talk about stereotypes that we face in Canada, media slander and things that we have to live up to like expectations that don’t make a lot of sense for girls our age.

“A big thing is the expectations of beauty, contorted and Photoshopped women who are supposedly perfect and that we have to live up to.”

Schenkels said the society she is growing up in is full of gender-based stereotypes.

“You can’t do something because you are a girl, or you throw like a girl, or really degrading terms like that. A lot of the stereotypes are rooted in past disconnects between girls and the media, society and the general population. As long as you can educate somebody and say we throw like a girl because we are girls, and that’s not a bad thing.”

Schenkels said many adults and other students in the school don’t really understand the club. She said several boys have asked why there isn’t a Because I Am a Boy club.

“We’re like, you go start one.”

The club also raises money through bake sales and other fundraisers. Recently, it raised $400 to be turned over to Plan Canada to sponsor things like education for girls and clean drinking water in developing countries.

Schenkels logs marks in the mid-90s and above in Grade 9. She also plays volleyball and is training to be a lifeguard.

She vows to keep the club going until she graduates, and hopes it carries on long past then.

Schenkels said the club has already made a difference in her life and her aspirations.

“Because I Am a Girl has changed my views. I was leaning toward psychology or veterinary medicine. Right now, I think it would be amazing to work in some of the developing countries to make a change in what lives are like over there.”